Have you ever experienced Karaoke? I don’t mean, have you ever spent an evening in a nightclub nervously oblivious to all goings on as you anticipate your turn and then oblivious again after as you replay your performance over and over so you can pick it apart.
What I’m asking is have you ever gone to a Karaoke event having already decided you won’t be singing, as in there will be no nervousness tonight? It’s really quite lovely. Not because of the silliness or because of voices so good they surprise you or so bad you cringe, but because you get to witness the incredible love from the audience to their friends.
Last night we went to Beatles Karaoke. Early in the evening two women took the stage. One I’d seen several times before, she, a well known Bay Area comedian looked at ease. Her friend looked terrified. It became clear that the one who was visibly shaking was there to sing for the first time and the veteran was there for moral support.
As she began, her voice was barely audible, despite the microphone. Her friend stood behind her and gently sang along helping her know when to come in, when to wait out the instrumental. It was done with such loving tenderness, had it been a movie I would have rolled my eyes and thought the actresses were over acting, the screen writer was corny, and the direction cloyish in the extreme. Instead it was perhaps the truest demonstration of love I have ever seen.
I looked around at all the other people in the room experiencing this moment. Most of them were as blown away as I. There were cheeks lined with tears, hands clasped to hearts and faces mirroring every movement from the stage.
I feel such incredible luck to have been a witness. I know I will never forget the look of love between those two friends. I know I will forever use this memory as a yardstick for what love can be.
Smile. Be happy.
Ruth